After nearly three decades of absence, a long-term initiative to reintroduce cheetahs to Zambia’s Greater Luangwa ecosystem will begin with the translocation of an initial six cheetahs from South Africa, with a further six planned within the first year.
The cheetahs to be translocated are being sourced from South Africa’s managed metapopulation, which is coordinated in part by the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT).
In a statement on Wednesday, the trust said the programme is led by Zambia’s department of national parks and wildlife, in collaboration with a coalition of conservation organisations.
These include the EWT, African Range Wide Cheetah Conservation Initiative/Zoological Society of London, North Luangwa Conservation Programme/Frankfurt Zoological Society, Zambian Carnivore Programme and Conservation South Luangwa, with funding from the Howard G Buffett Foundation.
Historically widespread, cheetahs are now largely confined to fragmented populations that struggle to persist without large, connected landscapes. There are fewer than 6,500 cheetahs remaining globally.
The trust said the reintroduction aimed to establish a viable founder population in a region identified as suitable for long-term recovery, contributing to broader efforts to stabilise and expand cheetah populations across southern Africa.
It said the Greater Luangwa ecosystem, encompassing North and South Luangwa National Parks, surrounding game management areas and key wildlife corridors, remained one of southern Africa’s most intact wilderness areas.
Planning for the reintroduction has been underway for nearly a decade, including feasibility assessments, strengthened law enforcement, habitat and prey evaluations and disease risk analyses.
A dedicated reintroduction committee, convened in early 2025 and comprising scientists, veterinarians, conservation practitioners, and government representatives, has developed a comprehensive, IUCN-endorsed reintroduction plan.
“If successful, the programme will contribute to establishing a self-sustaining cheetah population within a connected southern African landscape, while supporting the return of the species to more than 7-million hectares of viable habitat where it once occurred,” the EWT said.
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